Bonds
by Mononoke-hime x sukai kurora
Summary: The ultimate expression of love.


_Bonds_

When Sasuke first told her of his _niisan_ , Itachi, Sakura had not said anything. She simply listened to his voice, deep and subdued, the tone outlined with grief that did not fade. When he had stopped speaking, Sakura took his cool hand in his and squeezed. The bench that had seen so much of their history – when the dark-haired shinobi had told her how she was annoying, and the time when she had confessed her love to him for the first time – somehow didn't register in her mind when Sakura cupped his face in her hands. Her emerald eyes saw his own, one obsidian and the other dark purple…a memory of the war and of what they could not forget. Sakura swallowed from the memories, the pain and the sorrow burning inside her heart again. How could it be possible that he was here? That this very moment was happening?

That Uchiha Sasuke, once a missing-nin and an international criminal, was telling _her_ about his beloved brother and holding his hand. And yet this was no illusion. Sakura felt her thin fingers caressing his skin, gentle to her touch. Sasuke made no movement at all. He did not seem surprised when he felt her lips against his own, soft and sweet like the beautiful blossom she had been named for.

Sakura simply stared at the man she loved, smiling inside when she saw the soft and almost invisible smile against his lips. She remembered asking if she could go with him to meet with Naruto, but the gesture she had been in her dreams since the day he had said goodbye occurred again. Almost at once she felt the love and joy from him from the tap, and a blush ordained her cheeks as she bashfully looked upon him. "Next time," he promised. Sakura watched him walk away, remembering of the words he had stated in her mind. _"I've…always…remembered him doing that to me since my memories began. Poking me on the forehead." His voice, soft and lifting, almost as if reciting a poem of the long-lost past. "He loved me more than our parents. More than…the woman he loved and was forced to kill." Sakura was aware of the guilt forcing through his voice, remembering of the time when he had put a genjutsu on her. His hand through her chest. Sakura remembered it well, although how cold fear ceased to flow through her veins at the memory. He was a different person, Sakura knew. Although there was a large part of him that couldn't forgive himself. "In the war, he told me that no matter what happened to me, he would always love me. And…I realized what that gesture signified. That it was an ultimate expression of love…love so deep that words cannot describe it." Sasuke's hands were limp by his sides, and he didn't look at her as he spoke. Sakura felt her fingers against his own, soothing the demons inside him. Comforting him._

Sakura brushed her hand over her forehead then, feelings his finger against the skin. She smiled, almost laughing as she remembered the times when she was a child bullied for her large forehead. She had hated it then. Sakura remembered of how Ino had told her that her bangs wouldn't hide her forehead, calling it silly. Sakura relished the feeling that now her forehead was a precious part of her that allow Sasuke to show his love for her – the love, by his words, was so deep that words could not describe it. _It seems my forehead is beautiful after all._ It was sometime later when Sasuke told her about his travels during his journey. She had listened to his words, imagining the scenes in her mind wondered what it had been like if she had traveled with him

"Sakura." The kunoichi turned, finding Sasuke's gaze on her face, his expression surprisingly affectionate. Her heart thudded against his chest, feeling the blush overtake her cheeks again as she felt his hands caress her hair. "Thank you…for being with me, Sakura." He did not speak in many words, but when he did, Sakura knew he was genuine. Carefully, she lied her head against his shoulder, knowing of how pure his words were to her. _He truly…cares about me._

It was only a couple of months later did Sakura realize how much Sasuke cared for her. It was during the spring with the cherry blossoms in bloom, falling from the sky and onto the ground. Sakura stared at them, memorized by their beauty and catching on of them as they fell, when he appeared.

"Sasuke?"

For a moment he didn't say a word. Sakura waited, apprehensiveness surging through her as the silence continued. His hand motioned for her to sit down, and she did. Sakura didn't have to see his face not know of the turmoil within him. She had gotten to know him very well the year he had stayed in Konohagakure following the war. There were parts of him, she thought, that not even Naruto knew about. The nightmares in his sleep. Of how he could not sleep over the fact that his clan's graves he had toiled as a boy had been demolished during Pain's invasion, sometimes raging in frustration. Sakura heard her name across his lips, hesitant and weary. Sakura did not expect him to press his lips, hopelessly tender, against her forehead. For a moment the present was all that mattered to them. She felt his lips fall away, hearing him breathe deeply and close his eyes.

 _"Sakura…anata o…aishiteru."_

His lips gently caressed her nose and then paused to stare at her shocked face. He kissed away the tears that were streaking down her face. Then his mouth covered hers.

 _Sasuke…watashi mo…anata o aishiteru._

Their lips were gentle, caressing lovingly as if mirroring the love they held for each other. The tap on the forehead meant something more than the ultimate expression of love. It symbolized the evolution of their bond…of Itachi's bond to Sasuke, and now, to her.

Sakura smiled against the kiss, feeling the pure joy through her heart. She felt Sasuke smile through the kiss as well and his hands through her hair.

 _I will…always love you, Sasuke._

They were married a month later.

* * *

 _Anata o aishiteru_ means I love you in the highest form possible in Japanese.


End file.
